ba / ce / sha

Short Verbs with Their Own Patterns

Level 3

Sha means ‘drink’, verbal ce means ‘say’, and ba means ‘give’.

How It Works

Finite statements require subject-TAM marking, including with named subjects. The lexical verb does not acquire feminine or plural agreement endings. Ordinary Nigerian Boko leaves tone and vowel length unmarked.

Most monosyllabic verbs have high lexical tone. Verbal ce and sa have falling-tone citation forms and pattern with regular verbs. Short-final-vowel monoverbs lengthen before direct-object pronouns; imperative pronunciation follows additional rules.

With ba, the recipient precedes the gift. Pronoun recipients use bare forms such as ku, rather than ordinary dative muku. Noun recipients have tonal or overt marking. Learn bayar da separately. Compare verbal sun ce ‘they said’ with identifying Hauwa ce ‘It is Hauwa’.

Examples (3)

  1. Hauwa ta sha ruwa.

    Hauwa drank water.

    Ta marks the feminine singular subject.

  2. Sun ce za su dawo gobe.

    They said they would return tomorrow.

    Ce is the saying verb.

  3. Musa zai ba 'yarsa littafi.

    Musa will give his daughter a book.

    The daughter is the recipient; the book is the gift.

How It Connects

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ba / ce / shaLevel 3Short Verbs with Their Own Patterns

Learn This First

Recognize grade comparisons, identity particles and ordinary recipient-before-object order before learning these exceptional short verbs. Ba locally introduces its bare pronominal recipients and attested noun-recipient marking, distinct from ordinary wa/ma datives.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

shashacêebáa